The Veiling of Secrets
by LouiseK150159
Summary: 2/7. Isabella Lestrange is back for her second year at Hogwarts with her mission firmly in mind. She will be successful no matter what, but she's going to have to get creative now that Dumbledore's figured out who she really is. This Dark witch better watch her back and hope to god she doesn't get petrified.
1. The Two Faced Reflection

Hi guys. The first part of this story is called "The Two-faced Reflection", it's Hogwarts first year and follows Isabella on her previous journey. I've just completed the story - so if think you'll enjoyed this please check it out!


	2. Very Generous

**『****Isabella Lestrange and The Veiling of Secrets ****』**

_Very Generous_

_(2,178)_

It had been a long summer.

Every morning she woke up, left her bed, and went straight to the window, where she would look out at the street below and watch all the people crowding the famous Diagon Alley. She could see the entrance of Knockturn ally almost directly across from her, and all the different shops from the beginning to the end of the street. She could see the flawless white walls of Gringotts and if she leaned out the window she would even be able to see the Leakey Cauldron in the distance. The great view was the benefit that came with being holed up in the attic.

The only benefit.

Shortly after knocking on the door of 'Diagon Orphanage' she was shown in by a young witch, who was attempting to juggle a baby, a bottle and her wand all at once. The woman was of average height, appearance and intelligence, but somehow managed to supersede all of that with an abnormally high level of stress. Immediately after realising who was on the doorstep she had released a groan, and quickly managed to show her to her room and tell her when meal times were before leaving.

It was evident to her upon arrival that the orphanage was dirt poor, what with the lack of furniture all around the house as well and the appalling up-keep. The wallpaper on the walls was peeling off and yellowing, there was damp on almost all the ceilings, the wooden floors were scratched and the home had a musty smell to it that wouldn't go away no matter how many charms were cast.

Her room was in the attic, it had a bed and a bedside table. There was no wardrobe for her to put her clothes in and no desk for her to do her homework on, she had since learned to use her trunk well enough for those two tasks. The worst thing about the orphanage though was not the smell or lack of basic resources, it was the non-existence of space.

There were 10 children, 2 members of staff and her all living in the home. It was obvious that the inside had been magically extended, but there was only so much magic could do. As a result of the over expansion the hallways were so narrow you had to turn slightly to walk down them, the bedrooms (all 5 of them) were miniscule and the kitchen was absolutely laughable. This was why she was in the attic, there was simply no space for her anywhere else, but apparently Dumbledore had insisted that she must stay in this particular orphanage.

So, every morning she relied on her window. She got some fresh air and the illusion of having some space around her before she tackled the day.

Unfortunately, the day always came and this one would be particularly challenging.

She squeezed through the hallways and down 3 flights of narrow staircases as she made her way to the kitchen. The orphanage was already awake and bustling. The two staff were cooking breakfast and trying to keep an eye on the children at the same time. Half of the children were sat at the table waiting for food, the other half were running around screaming, and playing with each other.

Isabella managed to sneak in, grab a quick piece of toast and leave without the staff hassling her with a long list of chores for the day. Some of the children saw her as they ran into her legs, but they barely stopped for a breath as they carried on. She didn't often come downstairs, so the children barely knew her, and as a result didn't bother with her at all - a definite positive in her opinion.

She darted away out of the kitchen and then out of the front door, walking onto Diagon alley. There were a few people walking around but the shops had only just begun opening and preparing for the day. The Hogwarts letters had all been sent out the day before, so it was guaranteed to be busy, full of students and families buying their resources for the next school year and Isabella was no exception.

She began by heading straight to Gringotts, hopefully getting there before the rush of people arrived – the list of equipment this year would definitely cost her a lot and now that she had been disinherited, she was slightly worried about it.

The fine that her uncle paid when he disowned her, was supposed to be enough to fund the next 6 years at Hogwarts and maybe even more, but if the next 6 years required the same number of books, she wasn't sure it would stretch.

'This is ridiculous' she thought as she looked at the list:

_The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2_ by Miranda Goshawk

_Break with a Banshee_ by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Gadding with Ghouls_ by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Holidays with Hags_ by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Travels with Trolls_ by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Voyages with Vampires_ by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Wanderings with Werewolves_ by Gilderoy Lockhart

_Year with the Yeti_ by Gilderoy Lockhart

"Who the fuck is Gilderoy Lockheart?" She mumbled to herself quietly as she walked through the doors of Gringotts.

I·L·I·L·I·L·I·L·I·L·I·L

Getting the money had been easy enough – and her allowance for the year had been much more generous than she thought. Lucius must have been furious with the amount he had to hand over, it was enough to even make a Malfoy wince.

The thought cheered Isabella up considerably.

She began with Flourish and Blott's thinking it was best to get the worst over with now. Fortunately, the alley was still quiet by the time she left Gringotts's, and the shop was actually empty when she arrived, she immediately took the stairs to the upper floor and went straight to the defence against the dark arts section.

While she was browsing the shelves and picking up the books she would need, the door suddenly slammed open, dramatically crashing against the wall behind it, making everyone in the shop jump.

"No need to worry!" someone shouted from downstairs. "I have arrived."

Leaning over the bannister Isabella peered at the cause of the noise.

A man had stridden in through the door, completely unaware of the ruckus he had caused. He was tall and lean, with a full head of blond hair, handsome features and an incredible smile that matched the clearly expensive robes he was wearing. He paced over to a table towards the back of the shop, quickly followed by a short round man who seemed to be rather out of breath and patience.

Isabella almost caught herself swooning at the sight of him – but then he opened his mouth.

"How wonderful! How Wonderful that I am here today – generously signing all of the books these young children and their families, will be so eager to buy."

He tutted to himself as he shook his head.

"Not all celebrities are so generous and caring – but my fans are everything to me. If Gilderoy Lockheart is what they want! Gilderoy Lockheart is what they'll get. Oh! I guess that's Professor Lockheart now, just between me and you eh?" He said as he patted the smaller man on the shoulder.

The man was completely in his own world – oblivious to how infuriated the other man was, oblivious to the ruckus he had caused and oblivious to Isabella and she observed him like one would an exotic animal.

A quick look at the book in her hand quickly confirmed that he was in fact Gilderoy Lockheart – he had his picture printed on the front of every book. If he was to be believed about being a professor, then that would make him the new defence teacher at Hogwarts she quickly deduced.

"This whole thing is a scam" she whispered to herself. "I cannot believe that I almost spend 35 galleons on this shit!" She ranted to herself.

Not even bothering to put the books back she dumped them all on the floor, just taking the book of standard spells to the till. Lockheart himself was leant against the till as she wandered up to pay for the book.

"You must be a Hogwarts student, my first sale of the day!" He said as she walked up not even looking at the book she put on the till. "I will be your new teacher in defence against the dark arts, and between me and you, there is no one more qualified. But you'll find that out when you read the books."

He had pulled a golden quill out of his pocket and leaned down to sign the book on the till when he realised it wasn't his.

He laughed "You mustn't have seen the rest of the list child! You'll need these too!" He picked up the 7 books he had ready beside him and gave them to her with a wink.

"Sorry sir, but I don't want those books." She said as politely as she could muster. It had been a while since she had fully adopted the Hufflepuff act, the summer holidays had her out of practice, but she couldn't slip up now.

"Just this one please?" she said to the man behind the till, currently doing his best to ignore Lockheart who seemed to be in shock, staring non-blinkingly at Isabella.

The total sum was 2 galleons, as opposed to 37, which she paid and took her book. She was almost to the door when her new Professor collected himself.

"Those books are on the required reading for my class girl, I'm afraid you don't have a choice." He explained patronisingly. "If you refuse to read them, I will have to take this to the headmaster. Now what would Dumbledore say?" He smiled at her in what he probably thought was a charming manner but Isabella, who had just about enough of him, only stared blankly.

Even a Hufflepuff wouldn't put up with this, she justified herself.

"That's fine sir, I will speak with Dumbledore about it at the start of term." She smiled sweetly as his smiled dropped and anger began to cloud his features. "Would you like to take my name for your complaint?"

"Yes, that I will girl. This sort of impertinence will not be acceptable when you're in my classroom I tell you that now, maybe you ought to learn some manners before the start of term." He grabbed a blank sheet of parchment from the table beside him, "what is your name?"

"Isabella sir, spelt I – S – A – B – E – L – L – A." She watched his quill dance across the page, a smile already forming on her lips. "Last name Lestrange spelt: L – E – S – T – R -… sir? You've stopped writing?"

She couldn't take the smile off her face.

The moment he heard her name all colour had left his face, leaving him pale and slightly clammy.

"Don't you want my name sir?"

"Ah, on second thought… no. That's probably not necessary Miss. err… Lestrange." He chuckled nervously. "In fact, why don't you just have the collection for free? In case you change your mind."

"That would be wonderful! How very… _generous _of you sir!" She collected the books from the till where he left them, giggling slightly as he took a step back when she got close. She couldn't get the smile off her face even as she walked out of the shop.

The rest of her shopping was much less interesting.

Afterwards Flourish and Blott's she began restocking on the other equipment she would need for the year – she got new cauldrons, ingredients, parchment, quills, paper, ink. She even managed to get a wrist holder for her wand.

Then she stopped off and Madame Malkins for new school robes – she had shot up over the summer and last year's robe snow reached the middle of her shin. She paid extra for robes that would grow with her, Madame Malkin informed her that there was a limit to how much they would stretch but it was better than nothing.

By the time she had finished her shopping it was almost lunch time and the alley was full of busy shoppers. She quickly walked towards the orphanage with all of her buys weighing her down, dodging the witches and wizards in the way as she went.

When she managed to get through the doors of the orphanage, she immediately crushed herself and all of her shopping into the hallway, forcing herself up the stairs to the attic. After much a struggle, Isabella had a sheen of sweat on her face but had managed to get all of her stuff upstairs and packed into her trunk, all ready to leave in 3 days' time.

However, just as she was about to throw herself onto the bed something interesting caught her eye in the window.

As she looked closer, she realised it was Harry Potter.

Harry Potter, in Knockturn Alley.


End file.
